Wednesday, 31 August 2016

Life has changed dramatically since I have had my daughter - there has been a distinct lack of cooking and blogging. My life now is all about nappies, feeding and no sleep. My husband however isn't going to let a little thing like a baby get in the way of his pasta eating and so he has managed to cook a few meals with me now as sous-chef.This recipe took about 20 minutes and is very easy.Ingredients for 4 people:400g dried pasta (any shape)2 tbsp olive oil1 garlic clove, crushed250g fresh porcini mushrooms (we used portobello as that is all they had in the shop), sliced250g prosciutto slices, cut into small pieces 150ml whipping creamA handful of flat leaf parsley75g Parmesan, gratedSalt & pepper

Start by preparing all the ingredients such as cutting the mushrooms, slicing the prosciutto and crushing the garlic. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat and fry the mushrooms for about 4 minutes.

Then add the garlic for a couple of minutes.

At the same time put your pasta in a pan of salted boiling water and cook according to the packet's instructions. Mine took 8 minutes.

Mix the prosciutto into the pan of mushrooms and garlic and try to separate the slices - this is easier said than done - and cook for a couple of minutes.

Finally pour in the whipping cream, sprinkle in the parsley and season according to taste. We found you did not need much salt as the prosciutto is salty. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for 1-2 minutes.

Drain the pasta and then mix it with the prosciutto and mushrooms.

Serve with a scattering of Parmesan.

I nearly didn't choose this recipe as Pascal doesn't like cream however I am so pleased I ignored that fact as this was absolutely incredible and we both adored it. I think I rate it as one of my top 3 pastas which is saying something as I have had a lot. It is a simple recipe but really flavoursome and I love the saltiness of the prosciutto combined with the mushrooms and cheese. Plus it only took 20 minutes so is easy to cook when you literally have no time. Definitely worth the (little) effort.

Thursday, 18 August 2016

It is very quiet on the blog front at the moment as I am so busy with my new baby daughter Olympia. She was born nearly a week late on 28th July and since then I have barely had time to eat, let alone cook and go out to restaurants! However I was invited to sample the "Afternoon Gela Tea di Amorino" at the newly opened Amorino in Fulham Broadway and I was determined to go come hell or high water. Arabella, Olympia and I were warmly greeted as we entered the gelateria and our mouths started to water immediately as we saw all the delicious ice creams and sorbets on display.This is the 9th branch Amorino have opened in the UK - there are others in London such as Chelsea and Soho and there are also a couple further afield in Bicester Village and Southampton. I can see why they are so incredibly popular and I expect they will be even more so with the addition of their afternoon tea.To drink Arabella and I both chose a mango sorbet frappe which was perfect for a hot sunny day and a real treat in itself - it slipped down so smoothly and I almost felt like I was having a bellini. Had it been our usual typical cold English weather, I would have indulged in one of the ten flavoured hot chocolates (milk, hazelnut, caramel, almond to name a few). They also serve coffee and a variety of teas (such as earl grey, vanilla black tea, detox green tea and several others).

The tea also consists of a selection of four sorbets paired with their complimenting edible flower and served in the shape of a flower. They were almost too pretty to eat - but not quite - as we didn't resist for long! There was Mango Sorbet Alfonso d'India paired with lemon citrus tagetes, Sorbetto al Cioccolato Bio (chocolate sorbet) paired with lavender, Lampone Heritage (raspberry sorbet) paired with purple nemesia and Seasonal Exotic Lemongrass paired with oregano.

Arabella was amazed that you could eat the flowers and neither of us held back as we polished off all the different sorbets - they were all so smooth, sweet and refreshing. It was hard to pick our favourite one - Arabella's best was the mango and I adored the raspberry although they were all extremely good. They are also all vegan friendly so it is one place I can bring my sister!The next part of the tea was a selection of macaroons made with gelato - there are 8 different flavours and we chose mango, vanilla, chocolate and caramello but we could have also had lampone, caffe, pistachio and inimitabile. Arabella and I are huge macaroon fans and these certainly did not disappoint. Crispy yet soft and filled with delicious ice cream.

Finally we rounded off our tea with some samplers - a pistachio sorbet and a hazelnut and vanilla ice cream and then a beautifully presented raspberry and mango cone for Arabella. I would never choose hazelnut as a flavour but it was incredible and now I am a convert!

Wow - what a tea! I am meant to be losing my baby weight and so the opening of Amorino in Fulham is going to throw a real spanner in the works as I already love ice cream but these ice creams and sorbets are something else. No wonder there is always a queue outside the branch on the King's road and there are 140 stores all over the world! I can see why Amorino is so popular and I expect it will be even more so with the introduction of this afternoon tea. It cost £35 for 2 people and you definitely get your money's worth. Arabella and I have already discussed how Amorino should become an after school tradition. I won't be getting rid of my maternity jeans any time soon if that is the case!!Amorino8 Fulham Broadway,London SW6 1AA

About Me

I love food. I literally LOVE food. While I am eating breakfast, I am thinking about lunch and whilst eating lunch, I am planning supper. Then after supper when I am relaxing I am checking out dishes on food spotting, catching up on restaurant news on the Squaremeal or just reading a recipe book (although not all at the same time).....you get the picture....I am OBSESSED!!

While I have always loved a restaurant whether it be pizza express or a michelin starred one, I have only started cooking in the past couple of years. A friend recommended Fay Ripley's books and since then I have cooked from scratch non stop. I love recipe cards from the supermarkets as well as tv show recipes.

I look forward to sharing my views on restaurants and recipes with you and please let me know what you like, want more of or less of etc & if there are any places or recipes you would like me to write about.